90s Classics That Shouldn’t Get Remakes

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The current landscape of TV and film seems to thrive on remakes and adaptations. That’s all swell but there are some 1990s classics that are too perfectly cast and made to ever need a remake. Why fix something that isn’t broken? Here’s a few films that are too perfect to be remade.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Can you imagine Edward Scissorhands without Johnny Depp? He managed to make Edward, a scary-looking dude with scissors for hands, sympathetic and lovable. Only Winona Ryder’s Kim could fall in love with Edward and it not be strange at all. Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Vincent Price and Alan Arkin are the perfect supporting cast, making Edward Scissorhands a classic and one of Tim Burton’s best films.

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

The story of two New Yorkers in Alabama to save some “youts” from getting sentenced for a crime they didn’t commit doesn’t sound like a comedy. But Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei make the film. From arguments amongst themselves to Southern etiquette, these two keep the film interesting and hilarious. Plus, I learned how long it takes to make grits. There’s no way that this film could ever be improved upon. It’s too perfect as is.

Clueless (1995)

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Clueless is a classic simply because of its prevalence (still!) in pop culture. Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash and Elisa Donovan play the perfect self-absorbed threesome living in Beverly Hills. But supporting characters like Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer round out the film leaving little room for any remake to improve upon. I mean, who else could make it seem totally normal to fall for your step-brother?

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Photo Credit: New Line Cinema

Mike Meyers is Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. What’s cheesy about Austin Powers is also what’s kind of endearing. He’s a spy from the 1960s cryonically frozen and released in the 1990s, so what do you expect? This James Bond spoof is made 100% possible by Mike Meyers and Jay Roach’s commitment to this ridiculous world. Plus, appearances by some of the funniest people around (Elizabeth Hurley, Seth Green, Will Ferrell, and more!) make it impossible to recreate.

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

Photo Credit: TriStar Pictures

The reign of Julia Roberts started earlier in the 90s but My Best Friend’s Wedding has the perfect cast. Julianne (Roberts) decides to steal her best friend (Dermott Mulroney) from his new bride (Cameron Diaz), who both so perfectly play the parts of couple in love. Add in all of the delightful supporting cast of Rupert Everett, Susan Sullivan and Rachel Griffiths and you couldn’t remake this classic with a better cast. I mean, who other than Cameron Diaz could play a character so annoying and still make you love her?

The Truman Show (1998)

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

In what now seems like a prediction of reality television, The Truman Show thrives on the fact that Jim Carrey’s character so innocently lives his manufactured life, created for entertainment of the masses. Characters played by Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Holland Taylor, Peter Krause, Paul Giamatti and Ed Harris, strive to keep Truman in the dark. Jim Carrey expertly plays the innocent Truman while the cast of supporting characters almost make us forget that they are all pawns in lying to Truman for 30 years.

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Photo Credit: Warner Brothers

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan were the “couple” of the 1990s. After Sleepless in Seattle, they reunited for this delightfully dated film about almost cat fishing someone in the early days of the internet. They both hate and love each other when their professional and personal lives clash. No one could play the lovable billionaire quite like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s neurotic character of Kathleen Kelly is the secret book lover in us all. The great supporting cast including Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns and Dave Chappelle perfectly play their parts in keeping the main characters apart until the very last moment.

Cruel Intentions (1999)

Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

One of the strangest movies of the 1990s, Cruel Intentions follows a bunch of spoiled teenagers as they plot and scheme their way through prep school. The all-star cast of Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Selma Blair, Joshua Jackson and Eric Mabius bring these disturbing characters to life. Even not factoring in the whole step-brother/step-sister romance aspect, the film still isn’t a typical high school movie. Can you even imagine trying to remake it now?

Office Space (1999)

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Would Office Space have the same flare without some of its iconic actors? Ron Livingston perfectly embodies Peter, who is fed up with the modern American office culture in this 1990s cult classic. His co-workers and friends, played by Gary Cole, Steven Root, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich Bader, keep his life dull and mundane as possible. Jennifer Anniston’s character of Joanna experiences the same boredom at her own waitressing job but finally musters the courage to stand up to her boss. Remaking this film would be an impossible task. “Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.”